Possible Heroes
by Or Later
Summary: After Kim Possible went to college the world of heroes escalated rapidly. Alien, ghosts, and monsters appeared in rapid succession, and new heroes have risen to the challenge. Stakes are high and this new wave will need Kim's help to overcome the challenges of being a hero, and Kim will need them to remember the hero she is. First up, Ben Tennyson then Danny Phantom
1. Mission Possible

When Kim had left for college, she was ready to conquer a whole new world. She promised to take a year off the heroics while she settled into college. One year turned into two and two turned into three. It wasn't anyone's fault, the world was still recovering from the Lowardian invasion and she was spend three quarters of a year an ocean apart from Ron. It wasn't like they could meet up on short notice for a mission.

Everything changed the fourth year.

Amity Park became a supernatural hotspot. Incidents seemed to occur daily, but they were resolved just as fast by a local hero.

There were robots and monsters popping up in Norrisville not long after, but nothing lingered long enough for team Possible to arrive on the scene.

Summer came and with it an underground resurgence in alien activity and new alien heroes all over the united states.

In the fall things went completely insane. Giant monsters so completely beyond Kim's ability to stop began fall from the sky. After she spent a day frozen in class from what Wade described as some sort of sonic noise induced psycho-paralysis that she realized she that she wasn't part of that world anymore and hadn't been for a very long time.

Now it was winter, time to return home and she had no idea what she was going to do.

Kim was reading the news on her smartphone. Her Kimmunicator was still strapped to her wrist, but it hadn't been used in years and she wasn't about to break that streak to browse the internet. Three giant monsters fell from space this time and Titan managed to destroy all three. Property destruction was in the billions, but casualties were unusually small in Sherman City.

Danny Phantom and various alien heroes were spotted evacuating citizens from the disaster area. San Francisco and Paris weren't so lucky, but it could have been a lot worse.

"Do you miss it, KP?" Ron asked as he loaded his last bag into the trunk.

"This is hardly what we did in highschool, Ron."

"I dunno. We stopped one alien invasion. We could give this one a crack."

"I don't-"

"Stop! Thief!" Kim spun in time to see a man in a ski mask carrying a pink purse with a cut strap turning down an alley.

"I'll catch up later!" Kim tossed Ron her backpack, which he actually managed to catch while he toppled over.

Kim had initially thought the thief was a real novice to just grab a purse and run away on foot, but after chasing him over fences, up a fire escape and across the rooftops of seven buildings it became clear this criminal was making the most of the skills he had at his disposal.

The masked man tried to duck back into a crowd, but Kim was slimmer and way better at coordinating her movement. She slid nimbly through the river of people and closed the distance in time to tackle him to the ground in front of a cafe.

"Right on time, Kim. I can always count on you," said a familiar voice.

"Dr. Director? You know I'm out of the hero business," Kim told her.

"Tell that to agent Du's wounded pride." Betty smiled just a little more than was appropriate.

Kim blushed and let the masked man up, "This is totally different. Sorry, Will."

The masked man dusted himself off. He offered her a nod and a curt, "Possible." before leaving.

"He'll get over it. Sit with me, Kimberly. You don't need to be a superhero to chat with old friends over coffee. I'll give you a ride after so you can catch up with Ron," she beckoned.

Kim sits down and sips from the cup that was waiting for her. It was her usual twice blended mocha frappe with no whipped cream. She didn't like chunks of ice and she couldn't afford the full calories of the whip. Not when she had them as often as she did anyway.

Kim laughed and said, "Okay, I get it. You've been keeping tabs on me. So what's the sitch? Are you trying to get me back into the game too?"

Dr. Director abandoned her smile for a face she only used for direly important news. Kim used to see that face a lot. "If only it were that simple. Kim the world needs your unique skillset more than ever."

"It sure sounds that simple. I don't want to be an agent. I want to finish college. The world has gone on without Kim Possible just fine," said Kim. She didn't mean to sound bitter. She was genuinely proud of the new heroes that made her... obsolete. Wow. There she went again.

"I'm not offering you a position. I'm offering you a mission. Think you have one more in you?" Dr. Director asked.

"I'll listen, but I'm not making any promises. This is an important time for me."

"Absolutely." She quickly agreed. "Let's talk in the car. We wouldn't want Ron to worry too much."

Kim was ushered into a car with black windows, frappe still in hand. Dr. Director got in the back with Kim, making her wonder if they were making Will drive them after she tackled him.

"As you know, ghost attacks, alien encounters, and other so-called supernatural events have been on the rise in the last few years." As Dr. Director spoke a monitor dropped down from a hidden compartment in front of her and flashed images of carnage caught on various security cameras and cell phones.

"Which have been handled," Kim reminded her.

"For the moment, yes." The monitors flash images of Danny Phantom, Four-arms, and the Titan fighting monsters and robots. "These are known heroes that have done a lot of good for the world, but this is what the world doesn't know."

The monitor displayed a boy with messy black hair and gentle blue eyes as Dr. Director continued, "Danny Phantom is actually Danny Fenton, sixteen year old student at Casper High."

"He's so young...I think I babysat him once." Kim observed a little uneasy with where this was going.

The display changed again. It showed another teenage boy filled with energy as he slammed the buttons at an arcade machine. "The Norrisville Ninja is actually a succession of ninja. The latest is highschool freshman, Randy Cunningham."

The next image was of much younger boy with even messier hair and strong green eyes. "And all of the alien heroes reported across the nation this last summer are one Benjamin Tennyson, age ten."

Kim was forced to interject, " _No._ How could you let that happen?"

"The device that allows him to change forms is locked to his arm and his DNA. Human technology can't expect to remove it in his lifetime," Betty continued.

Kim wanted to protest more but a more pressing thought crossed her mind. "You want them. I'm just a means to an end."

"I want to help them, Kimberly. Should any of them fall, the world as we know it could end. They don't trust their own parents with these secrets. I would be very grateful if they could trust you." Dr. Director pulled three folders out from under her seat and held them out for Kim to take.

Kim hesitated. This was a dangerous world and it didn't always get less dangerous when secret agents got involved. Kim had learned that the hard way. Maybe these kids didn't have to though. Maybe she could help them. Really help them.

"I'll... think about it."

"That's all I ask." Dr. Director put the folders directly in Kim's hands.

"I think it's a great idea. You can reconnect with your teen hero roots while stateside," Ron said as he sat beside her on the hotel bed.

"I don't know. It's been years since we've done a mission and Bellewood is on the way to Amity Park, but Norrisville is way in the opposite direction. This mission could take a whole week and we had so much planned for our vacation," worried Kim as she flipped between folders.

Ron pulled the Norrisville Ninja file from her hands. "So I'll hit Norrisville, and we'll meet back in Middleton in just a couple days."

"Well, someone should help these kids."

"And who better than us?" Ron wrapped his arm around her.

"Do you really think we should?" Kim asked, resting her head on his shoulder.

"I think that you think you should, but you aren't sure you can handle it." Ron rested his head on her's. "I _am_ sure you can handle it, so don't worry about it."

"You really think I can?"

Ron had watched her wrestle sharks, bears and one time a hybrid bear-shark, but no amount of listing her accomplishments ever made her feel more confident. So instead he kissed the top of her head and said, "You're Kim Possible. You can do anything."

It was corny, and not at all logical, but that was always what he had brought to the team.

And, like always, it somehow made Kim feel a little better.


	2. And Then There Was Ben

Kim Possible had tremendous wealth of experience with heroics. She tried not to brag too much, but she had more than a thousand successful missions to her name. So naturally her new mission focuses on pretty much the only aspect of heroics she _doesn't_ have experience with; Secret identities.

Ben's house was painfully normal white middle class. The normalcy was off the charts. The doorbell even ding-donged! Why did she ring the doorbell?! These people would completely freak if they knew Ben's secret, but she can't just lie to them!

Whatever plans she managed to cobble together for the encounter didn't include the little redheaded girl who opened the door.

"Kim Possible? Wow. I am a huge fan! What are you doing here?" she asked. According to Ben's file, Gwen and Maxwell Tennyson were the only two who knew Ben's secret. Maybe if she just...

"I'm actually here to talk to Ben about _heroes_ ," Kim stressed in what she hoped was a conspiratorial tone. She added in a wink just in case. She'd seen Ron do that before.

"Aunt Sandra! Kim Possible is here to see Ben!"

Kim screamed internally.

She was mentally preparing herself for a lot of unanswerable questions when a blonde woman drying her hands with a towel came to the door.

"It really is Kim Possible. Imagine that," She said with a subtle smile. Kim tactically knew she had to take control of the conversation before difficult questions got asked.

"Hello!" said Kim

"Ben won a visit from a real hero in a contest! Isn't that great?" said Gwen, taking control of the conversation.

"Oh my. Would it be alright if we rescheduled, miss Possible? My Ben hasn't been feeling well lately." Sandra asked as the smile fell right off her face.

"Aunt Sandra, I really think Ben could use some encouragement. I'm proof he's not contagious and a visit from real hero might be just what he needs," Gwen said with conviction.

"Well...if miss Possible doesn't mind?" Sandra asked looking right into Kim's eyes.

Kim found her voice and said, "Not at all, Mrs. Tennyson. Please call me Kim."

"And you can call me Sandra. Just be careful with Ben. He's...delicate," she stepped back from the door to let her in. Kim made sure to note that she owed Gwen a favor.

Sandra suddenly remembered she was in the middle of something and asked, "Gwen, sweetie could you take Kim up to Ben's room? When I finish the dishes I'll bring some tea up."

She was in! Kim waited until she was out of earshot to ask about Ben.

"So Ben's sick?" she asked.

"I don't know. He won't tell me," she said. Gwen was making a face that Kim remembered making the first time Ron lied to keep a secret from her. It was part sad, part confused, and part angry. Just a jumble of upsetness.

"Just because he won't tell you, doesn't mean you're not his friend," offered Kim.

"I'm _not_ his friend. He's my doofus cousin," she protested as she paused with her hand poised to open the door to Ben's room. "Maybe he'll talk to you. I'll keep watch for aunt Sandra."

Gwen opened the door to let Kim in, but walked away without looking in. Her face still wore her distress. That didn't bode well for Ben's condition, but she would see for herself when she stepped into his room.

"Kim Possible? This is a way better dream. I hope," said the little boy on the bed. He had dark circles around his eyes and his face was much thinner than the photos showed her.

"Just call me Kim. Do you dream a lot? I never remember mine," she said. He looked like he needed a friend more than a superhero mentor right now.

"I wish I could forget," Ben whispered. He gave Kim a hard look a detective might give, but on his tired eleven year old face it was kind of adorable.

"Are you here to recruit me to a team of superheroes to save the galaxy?" he asked. His eyes were searching Kim's, but she saw more in his than he saw in hers. Not quite awake, suspicious and scared.

Kim smiled softly at him and whispered, "Something like that."

She took a seat in the chair facing Ben's bed. Sandra seemed to be very worried about Ben, but Kim had a gut feeling that it was Gwen's seat. "Trying to figure out what kind of dream this is?" she asked.

Ben seemed to relax. "I've had the same nightmare so many times, I thought I used up all my good dreams," he explained.

"The same nightmare? Do you want to talk about it?" Kim asked.

"No!" Ben protested. His upper body tried to shoot up, but it didn't get far before it fell back onto the bed.

"Okay. It's okay, Ben. We can talk about hero stuff instead," she soothed. Rather than her hero days, Kim was getting babysitting flashbacks. She took his small hand in hers. "You can ask me anything you want."

Ben didn't say anything right away, but his hand stopped shaking. That was something, so Kim waited patiently.

"Ron's your best friend. Weren't you scared he'd get hurt and it'd be all your fault?" he finally asked.

That wasn't the sort of question Kim was used to getting from little boys, but it was one she'd been asked before and she knew the answer. She squeezed his hand affectionately and told him, "I'll always be afraid of Ron getting hurt, but Ron's afraid of me getting hurt too. Sometimes the nicest thing you can do for someone is to let them help you."

"But what if you weren't good enough? What if something bad happened?" His tiny hand squeezed hers.

"I trust him to support me and his support make me strong enough to support him. We're a team." His eyes left Kim's and moved to the ceiling but he wasn't looking at anything. Kim knew this meant something more to him and she had a feeling that the last leg of this conversation was for Gwen.

He still looked unsure, so she helped it along. "Ben, you don't have to tell me what's wrong, but tell someone. It hurts when you can't help a friend and there's nothing wrong with needing a friend's help."

"Could...could you keep my mom busy? Sometimes, when I think I can say it, I'm scared mom will hear," he confessed.

"I'm Kim Possible. I can do anything," she promised.

Kim pulled out a business card and tucked it into his palm. It was from her teen hero days. The phone number was still good even if the pager number was a little embarrassing now.

"If you need anything, just call me. Get well soon, Ben," she said. Ben watched her leave silently. Then he was alone with his thoughts.

When Kim arrived downstairs, Sandra was already pouring tea. Gwen was being helpful around the kitchen but made sure to stay between Sandra and the stairs.

Kim whispered to Gwen, "My turn to run interference."

"Ben is a sweetheart, Sandra, but he's very tired. I would love to schedule another visit."

"Oh, could we talk in Ben's room? He needs his liquids," she explained nodding at the tea.

"I can bring Ben a cup. I'm sure he needs his rest just as much." Gwen was already collecting the tea on a tray.

"I suppose he does. Make sure he's okay and just yell if he needs anything," said Sandra. She seemed tired, and perhaps a little defeated.

Gwen moved up the steps just a little faster than one normally would while carrying a hot beverage.

"Well, I've been taking time off to be here for Ben, so most days are fine for us. My husband is on call, but is usually home by five. When are you available, Kim?" Sandra asked politely.

"Oh I'm available whenever. Ben just wanted to have a heart to heart with Gwen and didn't want his mom to know. Kids get embarrassed about the cutest things." Kim was a terrible liar, but this was a babysitting job now.

Sandra didn't know how much she needed the laugh Kim's candidness gave her.

"That will be good for him. Gwen's such a darling. She's athletic and a honor student along with everything else her mother drilled into her, but she still knows that people are more important than any of that."

"And Ben?" Kim prompted with a smile.

"That's about all he knows." She laughed again. "He's always trying to do things, but hasn't quite figured out how. He makes mistakes, but when he figures out the right thing to do, nothing can stop him."

Gwen took her seat again, but this time was different. She would finally get some answers. She could finally save Ben from whatever he's gotten himself into this time. No one had said anything yet though. All Gwen could hear was the beating of her own heart as Ben seemed to be lost in thought, now of all times.

" _I trust him to support me and his support make me strong enough to support him._

 _We're a team."_

"Remember when we were on Zenon?" He paused a moment. They both waited until he was ready. "When the Wildvine grabbed you."

"Yep, spent ten seconds in a Wildvine mouth. It was like sixth scariest thing that happened all summer." It was also the ninth stinkiest. Gwen kept a lot of rankings.

"Yeah?" Ben sounded surprised. "Well, it wasn't ten seconds for me. I thought you were dead. I-I thought I killed you," he confessed.

"Ben, I'm fine. You can't keep whatever is happening a secret in some boneheaded attempt to protect-"

"This is what's happening!" Ben cried out. "Every time I fall asleep, you're pushing me out of the way and the Wildvine grabs you and Gludo isn't there a-and-" and he gagged.

Ben slumped over the trash can and dry heaved over it.

"Ben, I'm okay! Why are you freaking out like this? I've seen you puke way too many times in my life, but not from stress." Gwen put her hand on his back.

Ben gripped the edge of the trashcan and his back tensed under Gwen's hand.

"I don't-it's not- I'm not..." he tried to explain into the trashcan. He gripped the rim tighter and then pushed off it. He leaned his head back upright and turned to face Gwen. Her eyes were wide because his were filled with tears he'd never let her see before.

"I'm not Ben in the dream," he began. His voice had steadied, but his hands were tense fists. Gwen forgot to breathe.

"I'm the Wildvine."


	3. And Then There Was Gwen

Ben's stomach was really weak and seeing anything that even reminded him of meat made him retch instantly. He was always terrible about eating his vegetables and had some sort of irrational fear of tofu. It took Gwen almost a whole hour to have a color coded meal plan charted out for the rest of the year to help Ben get his strength back.

"I get the fruit and the toast but what is this?" Ben asked as he eyeballed a bowl of mush.

"It's oatmeal. Don't give me that look! I cooked it in milk with peanut butter and plenty of sugar. Don't chicken out, now." Gwen crossed her arms and waited for him to act.

Ben still managed to look reluctant as he shoveled some oatmeal into his mouth, but after some contemplative chewing he swallowed. "It's like a peanut butter cookie."

"Yep!" Gwen chirped triumphantly. "That was exactly what I was going for, but with more protein, potassium, vitamin D-"

"Don't ruin this for me, Gwen." Ben sputtered through a mouth full of oatmeal. He learned long ago that even Gwen would hesitate to argue with him, if it meant food would be sprayed on her when he responded.

Those were the last words on the topic for the next few hours. They still talked about school, sumo slammers and grandpa Max. Just nothing about his nearly starving himself to death.

Sumo Slammers: the Movie was rolling credits when aunt Lily arrived. It was getting late. Ben went up to his room alone without saying anything. If he pretended he was asleep, he wouldn't have to say goodbye. He stared up at his ceiling and tried not to be think of the coming nightmare.

Then Gwen walked into his room without knocking and dropped a sleeping bag onto the floor. She reached back outside the room and pulled in a massive duffel bag he was certain could hold the both of them inside with enough food and air to last them the weekend.

He had an idea what was going on, but just to be sure he asked, "Was is _that_?"

"This? It's my overnight bag. I keep it packed with everything I need for a sleepover."

It was exactly as he'd suspected; Gwen was a dweeb. He rolled with it.

"Are you sure you want to do this? At the end of summer, you said you would rather sleep in a burning building than sleep in the same room as me again."

She ignored his question and laid out her plan. "If we can get you through one night then we know we can get you through every night. I'll be right here and you'll know I'm safe. Just relax."

Ben looked skeptical. "So... what, we have a slumber party and heal me with the power of friendship?"

"I can hold your hand if it makes you feel safer," she teased.

"This is dumb. You're lucky I'm too tired to argue." He meant it too. The relief from Gwen not leaving and his general weakness wore him down quickly. By the time Gwen finished settling in he was already drifting off.

It was kinda fun to watch Ben fall asleep. It was so quiet and gentle looking. Nothing like anything else he's ever done in his life. Ever.

Then his face scrunched up and he started sweating. It was too early to be a dream.

Gwen leaned in and checked his eyelids. They weren't flickering, but they started crying.

"Ben, wake up!" Gwen demanded as she shook his shoulder. It didn't make any sense.

"So much for one night. At least I kept dinner down," he said before he rubbed the tears from his eyes onto his pajama sleeve.

"Ben, you have to listen to me. Are the nightmares always like this? Just asleep and instant nightmares?" she rambled as her mind buzzed.

Ben started puking barely a week ago.

"Uh, _yeah_. Sleeping is when dreams happen, dweeb," answered Ben.

Zenon was over a month before the nightmares. How could she have missed something so important? The whole thing was weird from the beginning!

"Ben, this is _serious_. You weren't in a REM cycle," she explained.

"Gwen, after everything we've been through together...how could you _possibly think_ I know what that means?!" Ben looked mad. Good. She was mad too! Someone tried to kill him! No, someone was _still_ trying to kill him.

"It means you weren't supposed to be dreaming, stupid! This has to be an alien or-or magic!" she explained to him while trying to figure it out herself.

Ben lifted his arm to look at the Omnitrix and said, "I don't think I have an alien for this."

Gwen tore into her overnight bag. Someone was trying to kill Ben and she wasn't going to let them.

"But I have a spell for it," she said as she finally retrieved her spellbook. "I can astral project myself into your dream and pull you into a lucid dream like when we saved you from the Forever Knights," Gwen was already flipping through her spell book as she explained her plan.

"Is that safe?" he asked. The "for you," was said only with his eyes.

Gwen's eyes said, "I don't care."

"I am going to do this, Ben. You can't go on like this. You _can't_ ," she told him. Gwen had never been more sure of anything. This had to stop.

Gwen's conviction made Ben pause for a second and a thought crossed his mind.

" _Sometimes the nicest thing you can do for someone is to let them help you."_

"Okay, but I get to turn you into a rat again when I'm in control." He smiled for her; at her expense but for her.

"You're a dork." She still smiled back, relieved.

Zenon except not. Even hotter and more humid than the real thing. There was no wind and none of the shadows moved right. There was only one Wildvine, maybe to Ben that was the only one that mattered. It was reaching for him like it did that day, but this Gwen had a lot more to her.

"Time to go off script!" Gwen announced.

She caught the Wildvine in a bubble of mana even as it thrashed and she shouted, "Ben! It's me! Remember the plan! None of this is real!" She needed Ben to snap out of it, but it was the walls that replied back.

"Real?" The words echoed from every direction. "Dreams are the gateway to the subconscious. Your world is the one that is made of lies!"

Swirling wisps of night sky bubble up from the ground into a mound that towers over them both. Horns curl out from the top. A pale, cold face with glowing, red eyes emerges from a sea of stars and glares down at Gwen.

The creature's powerful voice had an otherworldly echo that proved more than a trick of the room when it spoke to her again.

"You should not have come here," it said.

The creature waved its hand in an effortless gesture that shattered the walls and building above them with a crack of thunder. The memory of Zenon fell upwards into a sky of swirling green mists and floating islands. The monster rapidly grew several stories taller. It reached down to the bubble holding Ben and smothered the glow of mana beneath a night sky clenched into a fist.

"L-let him go! Wh-who are you?!" Gwen demanded, trying to hold her spell on Ben. She expected Vilgax, Charmcaster, or even the Forever Knights again, but this was unlike anything she had ever seen and she'd seen _a lot_.

The heat of Zenon was sucked away with the scenery but she wasn't shaking from the cold. The power this creature commanded over Ben's dream was far beyond the extent of Gwen's magic. This was a monster trying to kill Ben and it wouldn't hesitate to turn that power on her.

"I am Nocturne, Master of Dreams and you are intruding in my world, foolish girl!" Nocturne voice rumbled through the room like an earthquake as it raised its open hand as if to swat her like an insect.

"This is my world!" A burst of light forced open Nocturne's fist and Ultra-Ben rocketed free to slam a fist into Nocturne's pale face sending the villain reeling back, but it floated instead of fell.

"I can't believe he's dressed like a superhero again," Gwen said forgetting her fear in the lunacy of the situation.

When Gwen raised her hand to prepare another spell and saw she was wearing her lucky girl gloves. Then she looked down and saw she was wearing more than the gloves.

"When I do it, it's cool," she concluded as she attacked.

Bolts of mana crashed into Nocturne. The beast cried out and raised its arms to protect its face from the crash of magic.

Ben cartoonishly wound up his next punch like a propeller on a plane. "In my world, the heroes always win!" Ben released a punch that cracked like thunder and Nocturne massive form flew back and rolled off the platform into the swirling green void surrounding them.

There was a moment of silence but the sense of dread hadn't left.

"Sleepwalkers form!" Nocturne's voice called out from below. Ghastly, vaguely humanoid sacks of spectral energy began to coalesce in the sky and floated down toward them. Ben took position in the air above Gwen and together they attacked them as they groaned and swarmed around them. Each one they struck turned back into a green mist.

"Sleepwalkers, form!" Nocturne commanded once again. For each minion they had turned to gas two more formed around them.

"These guys don't stay down!" he yelled begging for an idea.

"Saphirius Expectorium!" Gwen conjured whirlwinds that sent the sleepwalkers tumbling away. The few that collided with each other burst into mist.

"I can handle these creeps! Get Nocturne!" she yelled over the roar of her own magic.

Ben hesitated a moment, then shot off like a rocket over the lip of the platform.

Beneath them was an expansive night sky with Nocturne's face leering at him.

"Leaving Gwen alone? Doesn't that frighten you, Ben?" rumbled Nocturne as tendrils of night sky shot out toward him.

"I'm done letting my nightmares control me!" Ben yelled out as he charged in.

The sleepwalkers pushed against the wind trying to rush at Gwen. As they bumped into each other they mindlessly pushed each other forward in clusters drawing closer even as they crushed each other into mist trying to push forward.

Gwen breathed deep and focused with the time she bought herself. Casting with one hand wasn't optimal. Casting with her left hand while channeling another spell in her right and astral projecting was something she would have called a nightmare before she met Nocturne. So she just had to do it perfectly.

She held her left hand out and split both her focus and her mana as she commanded, "Mercuta Verditis!" An erratic stream of blue mana parted the raging winds and crashed through a line of sleepwalkers. Gwen held the spell and swiped it across her enemies like a sword and they were mist lost in the storm.

As she released her magic she felt immediate relief. She didn't have time to rest. Ben needed her help. She ran to the edge of the platform and looked down to see Ben flying around Nocturne's writhing tendrils. He was avoiding them well, but he wasn't attacking.

"He needs to get to that face, but if he moves too close he'll get trapped. Think...think!" Gwen commanded to herself. All her spells were either too short ranged or useless against something so massive. Something had to give.

The solution came to her, but it was dangerous. The only alternative was to let this monster win though.

So she jumped.

As she fell, she focus her mana. She would need all she had. The last time she used this spell it didn't take that much out of her, but Nocturne was easily a hundred times the size of the mummy.

"Appendage-A Regoria!" she yelled out over the rush of wind from her freefall. Glowing blue energy ran through the tentacles as she fell past them and froze them in space and, if the annotations in the book are true, time as well. Which had a lot of implications for physics that Gwen promised herself she would examine if she survived the fall.

"Witch! What did you do to me?" Nocturne yelled and thrashed against the magic.

Gwen's eyes were squeezed shut. It helped her focus on the spell. She hoped Ben made use of the opportunity she was creating. Then she stopped falling, but not in the sudden, deadly way she had been dreading.

"Are you crazy?!" Ben yelled at her.

"No time! I can't hold this spell long, you only get one shot. Make it count!" she told him.

Ben didn't want to leave it at that, but it would have to wait. He moved Gwen onto his back. "Hold on tight."

Ben flew right up to Nocturne's screaming face with Gwen hanging onto him like a second cape. He cocked back is fist so far that he lifted his leg like he was about to throw a fastball. Gwen held on tight and was kinda choking him, but he didn't have time to worry about that as he put all his strength into one punch.

"None of this matters! You're too weak to stop us now! Sweet dreams, Ben. They won't last!" Nocturne yelled.

The blow was too fast to see, but it sounded like an explosion. The monster inverted at the point of contact and the massive tendrils of night sky were sucked down into the implosion that was once Nocturne's face. When the last of him was gone, the swirling green mists faded away. They were suddenly sitting in lawn chairs by a campfire outside the rust bucket. S'more fixin's were in arms reach and they already had roasted marshmallows on sticks.

"The infinite possibilities of a lucid dream and this is what you do?" Gwen teased as all the adrenaline faded away with Nocturne.

"I know its kinda dumb, but I like the stars. Nocturne didn't have any of the constellations I knew and he was, y'know, a jerk. It just made me want to see a real night sky," he said in defense of his dream. "And hey! Don't think I forgot. You jumped! What if I didn't catch you in time?"

"I knew you would," Gwen explained matter of factly.

Ben sighed and knew he couldn't win this one. At least not today.

"Just try not to scare me like that. Anyway, if my dream is so boring you don't have to stick around," he said as he leaned back to see the stars.

"Actually, after all that? Some quiet star gazing sounds pretty nice." She leaned back herself and ate her dream marshmallow. Gwen observed that Ben's dream didn't actually have an accurate night sky. It had too many stars and sparkled too brilliantly. It was beautiful.

"Gwen?" he said just a little too timidly.

"Hmm?" she hummed through her marshmallow.

"Thanks."


	4. Phantom Menace

Kim had heard the Fentons were eccentric. The Global Justice file on them was filled strange claims that she had convinced herself couldn't be true. When presented with the giant neon sign and sci-fi structure added to the top of the building, she wished Ron hadn't split up to find the Norrisville Ninja. He could handle this weirdness no problem.

He wanted to make sure this mission didn't take over her whole vacation and Norrisville was in the opposite direction of both Bellewood and Amity Park, so they split up.

"Just rip off the bandaid." Kim knocked on the door.

A smartly dress young woman with red hair opened the door. "Wow! Kim Possible is at my home! I'm Jasmine, but please call me Jazz. My dad is a huge fan of James Possible rocket propulsion. I know my parents would be thrilled to help you with whatever you need. Come in!"

"Actually, I'm here to talk to Danny," Kim said as she began to take a step into the doorway, but Jazz's foot took it first.

"Why?" Jazz's eyes bore into Kim's as her body blocked the doorway. The look in her eyes reminded Kim of times she had been interrogated by supervillains, or been caught coming home late by her parents. Even if Kim was any good at lying she didn't think she would try her luck.

"I'm here on behalf of Global Justice to-" Kim began.

"Government agents aren't welcome here." The door slammed shut, a lock audibly clicked into place, and something very dangerous sounding powered up and hummed behind the door.

Kim activated the Kimmunicator as she backed away slowly. "Wade, we have a little problem."

"Uncooperative parents?" Wade asked back.

"Overprotective sister. I botched first contact and I think I might get shot if she sees me again."

"Ouch, I know a guy in town. I'll see if he can't get us another point of contact. I'll get back to you if I get a hit," Wade told her.

"Please and thank you. I'll check around town while I wait," she decided.

"More information's better than less," approved Wade before the link went black.

* * *

Kim found the local Bueno Nacho equivalent, Nasty Burger to get a sense of the local news. She chatted up the locals and signed a few autographs before she hit the topic of interest.

"He's dreamy. He has such a gentle smile. You just know he'd treat you right," said Paulina, a fellow cheerleader and 'Phan'.

"Dreamy? You mean dangerous. He's had altercations with our current and previous mayor, he's also been implicated in a jewel theft," interjected Damon Gray. He lost his job when Danny made a joke out of his security company. Kim hadn't asked about Danny at the time, he was just really vocal about it. His daughter, Valerie just looked embarrassed.

"He was framed!" yelled Dash, star quarterback. "All the jewels were found when Freakshow got arrested, and I bet the mayor stuff was faked too! He's brave and strong and-and," Dash suddenly looked ashamed of himself, "he always does the right thing no matter how hard it is."

"Well, there's no doubt he fights off the other ghosts, but it's just too dangerous to leave him alone. No one person should have that much power," contributed an older gentlemen.

"Without Danny Phantom, who'll stop the real bad guys?" Dash argued.

"The police, right?" said a voice in the crowd that had formed around the discussion.

"If we'd left it to the police that bank robbery last week would have turned into a bloodbath. Throw in some ghosts and we'd all be doomed!" a teen with glasses yelled out.

"That bank robbery thing is what makes me uncomfortable though. He broke that guy's arm like it was nothing. He shouldn't get to hurt people like that with no consequences," said a man with glasses.

"What would the cops have done? Shoot him with a sniper rifle? Let him execute a hostage? He's lucky Phantom was there to break his arm instead!" yelled some impassioned youth in the crowd.

"Lucky?!" someone screamed back.

The building erupted into heated arguments and Kim wasn't getting anything more from it. Luckily the Kimmunicator beeped and she stepped outside to answer.

"What's the sitch, Wade?" She prayed for good news.

"We hit the jackpot. My source has direct contact with Danny Phantom. He got you a meeting with him at sunset. I'm forwarding the coordinates now."

"Please and thank you."

After everything she heard in the Nasty Burger, Kim thought Danny might need her help after all.

* * *

Kim was admiring the town at sunset. The rooftop she was sent to had a spectacular view. It was a waste for it to be an empty building.

"I'm sorry about Jazz. She's overprotective and meddling," Danny said as he faded into visibility.

"I understand. I'm a big sister too." Kim patted the ground beside her.

"This is so weird. I'm on a rooftop about to have a superhero talk with my babysitter." Danny floated down and sat beside Kim facing the sunset.

"I only babysat you for one afternoon. I'm surprised you even remember." She sat beside him with her legs bunched under her chin.

"I got to be a junior rocket ranger and meet Kim Possible. It was the best summer of my life." Danny had a big smile, but it faded quickly. "I was so sure I was going to be an astronaut when I grew up."

Kim nudged him with her elbow.

"You still have some growing up left to do," she said.

"I'm glad you're still cool, Kim, but I can't join Global Justice. My specialty is fighting monsters from another dimension. I'm not cut out to stop criminals." Danny floated up and stretched his legs out and turned to float away. He'd shown his cards.

Then Kim played hers. "I heard about the bank robbery."

"Don't." He stopped. The warm glow of sunlight faded into night. "Don't tell me I did a good job."

"I know it felt like a disaster, Danny. You can't let it stop you from helping people."

"You don't understand. When I started the hero stuff, carrying two people would wear me out. Later that year, I was catching school buses." His hand clenched into a fist. "I wasn't trying to hurt him, but my powers keep getting stronger. What if next time-"

"Danny!" Kim said, cutting off his emotional spiral, "You aren't going to kill anyone."

He spun around to face her. "How can you say that after what happened?!"

"If you could do that day over again, would anyone get hurt?" she asked.

He shook his head. "I can't stop thinking of ways it could have gone better."

"So you know that many ways to do better next time. Ways that other people don't know-can't know. That's how we become heroes, Danny. By doing the things only we can do."

"What I can do is half the problem! When they say I'm dangerous-that I could destroy the whole world. I don't know what to say back because," Danny sprawled out on the roof exasperated "Because they're right."

"Worrying about that is proof that they're wrong." Danny's expression didn't change. "If you need another reason, you're the next Kim Possible."

Danny laughed, genuinely amused. "Jazz has more in common with you than I do."

"You think? We both chose to be heroes. Nothing forced us. We saw something we could do to help people and just...did it. That's all Kim Possible, teen hero was to me, not the kung fu or the gadgets. It was the heart."

Danny's face tinged green, but Kim was pretty sure he was blushing. "I guess that's true. If I'm the only one who can do it, I just do it. Doesn't matter how dangerous or scary it gets."

"I remember the first time I saved someone. It was actually by accident, but I knew I would do it again in a heartbeat. Was it like that for you?"

"My first time," Danny whispered aloud as it came back to him, "A ghost was attacking my friends with meat -seriously meat!- and I protected them. It was hard and scary, but after I just knew that this was what I was supposed to do."

Danny looked down at his clenched fist and pondered the power within.

"Did you ever, you know, mess up? H-hurt someone?" Danny asked, searching for answers.

"Things go wrong sometimes. I remember the first time I-" Kim stopped herself, but she smiled after. "Promise not to laugh?"

"Yeah, okay. Promise," he said holding back a smile.

"There was this boy named Jason who was a huge bully." She hid her mouth behind her knees. " One day he decided to play dodge-ball with Ron without telling him. So he throws a ball at him as hard as he can and I block it with a roundhouse kick-"

"A roundhouse kick?" Danny says, incredulous.

"I was a bit of a show off," she casually explained away, "Anyway, I felt pretty good about it until I looked over and saw that I accidentally kicked the ball into Jason's face. I watched him spit out some blood and two teeth."

"Teeth?!"

"They were baby teeth! We were ten years old," she defended

"You could do a roundhouse kick when you were ten?"

"Yes. So I ran home and hid under the covers. When Ron came to check on me, I made him promise to visit me in jail. He told me that if I was going then he wanted to go too." Kim broke her own rule and laughed. "I didn't even get in trouble. He was too embarrassed about getting beat up by a girl to say anything and he was a bully so no one else said anything."

"That must have felt awful," Danny tried to imagine handling the guilt as a child.

"Ferociously. I said sorry a million times. To him, to my parents, to his parents- everyone! I got grounded after actually begging for it." Kim let out a sigh. "I made Ron throw a ball at me until his arms gave out so I could figure out how to kick them where I wanted. I had to spoon feed him dinner."

"That really wasn't what I was expecting." He didn't laugh but his smile was getting dangerously close. "None of this was. Everyone was either defending what I did or condemning me for it and I felt like I had to take a side so I just decided to hate myself. It all seems stupid now."

Kim smiled at that. She made a difference. It felt almost like her first mission again. Now that he knew what she had to offer, the rest was up to him.

"I'm not here because Global Justice asked me. I'm here because doing the right thing is hard, but it's worth doing and it gets easier" -she offered her hand- "with help from a friend."

Danny looked at her hand for a moment as he pondered the implications, but he smiled. Danny reached out his hand but stopped abruptly when a cold mist forced its way out of his mouth.

"Sorry. Duty calls, but Tucker has your number. We'll talk more. Promise!" He flew off into the night.

Kim converted her failed handshake into a wave and a smile.

* * *

"Ben's already a no-go and you just let Danny Phantom fly off? Is that okay?" Ron's nose asked through the Kimmunicator.

"You're holding the camera too close again, Ron. He'll be okay. Honestly? Danny's the only one I'm not worried about."

"Ah! Make that two. The Norrisville ninja is in! I was worried he said that centuries of tradition dictated he work alone, but all it costed me was some Bueno Nacho and letting him win at Tombstone Puncher III."

"...That...th-that's" she swallowed it. "That's great."

* * *

Kim woke to a call from Ben, but she was having a hard time following the story.

"Okay, slow down. Who is Nocturne?"

"Iunno. Some dream monster."

"Dream monster?"

"It was kinda like a night sky except it had a ticked off face with a scar-Hey!"

"Hi, Kim. This is Gwen. When Ben went to sleep I noticed signs of distress settle in before REM sleep so I used a classic Bezel style astral meditation to project my spirit into-"

"Ah! No one cares about your nerd magic! Give it back!"

Gwen's voice became strained. "-his dream. Something was in there and it fought us for control over the dream, but we-Ugh! Gross! Ben!"

"We kicked his butt! He was a real sore loser and was talking about how we were too weak to stop him nowwwahh!" Thud. "No fair!"

"He said, 'You are too weak to stop _us_ now.' Nocturne wasn't working alone and he targeted Ben specifically because he wanted him out of the way."

"I happen to have a supernatural monster expert nearby. Stay safe and keep a low profile until you hear back from me, okay?"

"But that's booooring!"

Gwen shushed at Ben. "Ben needs to build up his strength anyway. Call us if you learn anything?"

"Promise. Don't take any risks before we have a plan." Kim couldn't help but worry. Those two were a lot like her and Ron is some ways, but very very not in many other ways.

"I am the epitome of responsibility," Gwen bragged.

"And cooties!"

* * *

FentonWorks made Kim nervous when she thought it just looked weird. It got ten times worse after she got on Jazz's bad side and was afraid of getting attacked. When she arrived and found the sign and strange sci-fi add ons burnt and mangled she felt her stomach drop.

Then Kim's relatively normal fears came true.

"Where's Danny?" Jazz demanded at gunpoint.

 **Author's Note:** Next chapter I will be moving categories from Ben 10 to a Danny Phantom crossover since the focus is shifting. I hope that's not too much of a faux pas. I always wanted it to be there, but Danny didn't show up until several chapters in and that just didn't seem appropriate.


	5. Jazzy Get Your Gun

"Where's Danny?" Jazz demanded at gunpoint.

"I don't know," Kim answered slowly.

"Don't play dumb! You came for him and now he's gone." Jazz's eyes were digging into her worse than before.

Kim hoped those eyes would see through to the truth. "We talked then mist puffed from his mouth and he left. I can show you where we met and which direction he went from there."

"I know where you met, which way did he go from there?" Jazz wasn't in the mood to compromise.

"South by southeast based on the sunset. It was a straight shot. He seemed to know where he was going."

Jazz touched her off-hand to her Fentonphones. "Did you guys get that? Radio back as soon as you find anything."

"I understand how you're feeling. My family has been targeted before. We'll find him together, okay?" Kim continued to try to put Jazz at ease.

"We have the entirety of the world's experts on ghosts on it. Why should I let you anywhere near this?" Jazz held her weapon in both hands again.

"I investigated super villain attacks and secret technology robberies on a weekly basis for four years. I can help, if you'll let me." Kim wasn't one to brag, but she was confident.

Jazz largely ignored Kim and listened to her Fentonphones again.

"Tucker says Wade sent him the tracking data from your Kimmunicator and it proves you weren't involved." Jazz didn't look impressed, but she lowered the gun.

"If you tell me what happened last night, I will do everything in my power to find Danny," Kim promised.

Jazz motioned for Kim to follow her into FentonWorks. As they passed by the wrecked sign Kim noticed something attached to it.

"Is that ice?"

"Danny's ghost ice. Instead of melting, it evaporates into a gas and whatever moisture that was pulled from the air leaves a disproportionately small puddle. Melt times are confusing too," Jazz recalled from testing as they descended into the basement.

"Something came through the ghost portal and triggered an alarm. My parents and I ran to the lab prepared for a fight, but all we found were smashed Fenton thermoses and security cameras." Jazz's face hardened further. "The lab was underground and the alarm was too loud. We couldn't hear the fighting outside until it was too late."

Now that Kim was forced to accept the Fenton thermoses mentioned in the file were real, she had a thought. "The Fenton thermoses were destroyed, but were they all accounted for?"

"I wondered the same thing, but they were all there, just in pieces. We even checked on our personal thermoses." Jazz pulled her own thermos from her backpack. "Only friends and family have the rest, so we don't have to worry about anyone using them against Danny."

Kim felt like she was being watched and peaked up the stairs in time to see a young girl duck around the corner.

"Who else is home?" Kim asked on alert.

"My sister, Dani. Everyone else is examining the flight path from where we last saw my little brother. She wanted to stay home, in case Danny with a 'Y' came back. She was so upset. We should go up and let her know you're on our side now."

Kim wanted to let her know she had always been on their side, but opted out. She didn't want to antagonize Jazz while she was finally opening up and apparently eager to pull her gun.

"I didn't know Danny had another sister." Neither did Global Justice which had her attention.

"It isn't official yet, but she's family. It was her idea to wait at home in case he came back." Jazz unlocked the door and let Kim into the undamaged foyer. "I didn't want her to be alone. She couldn't stop crying when Danny with a Y disappeared. He was the one who brought her into the family when she didn't have anyone else."

Jazz's voice was filled with pride and love for her siblings. Kim finally felt like they were connecting.

"I see Danny gets his big heart from his big sister."

"Why do you say that?" Jazz was still a little wary.

"You said Danny with a Y so that Dani with an I doesn't feel like the extra. You're very thoughtful." Kim smiled genuinely.

"Thanks, I guess. Kim, about before-" her hand suddenly went back to her Fentonphones. "Nothing? Are you sure? Can you come straight back? I have a bad feeling about this."

"Is everything alright?"

"Whatever ghost Danny went after last night, it didn't leave signs of a fight. It's just another dead end. This is all so strange"

"Strange is a clue too. It means it isn't what you're used to finding," Kim offered.

"But it doesn't make sense. What kind of ghost goes down without a fight but convinces him to go home instead of patrol?"

"What makes sense is rarely what happens in this business. If you ignore evidence pointing you to the impossible, you end up captured by super-humanly strong babies under the control of evil nanny."

"That didn't actually happen, did it?" Jazz raised an eyebrow.

"Actually-"

"No!" screamed the girl upstairs.

"Dani!" Jazz grabbed a stick labeled Jack-o-nine-tails and took run full sprint up stairs.

In the foyer, there was a young teen ghost that looked like a female Danny Phantom and that raised a lot of questions that would have to wait.

Across from her was a ghost even Kim knew by sight. The man that held the world hostage, Vlad Masters.

"You ungrateful little pest!" Vlad yelled he blocked Dani's ecto blasts with a purple energy shield.

"You! Of course it was you!" Jazz swung her weapon with precision but the cables were cleaved through before they reached their target.

"I don't have time for this. Stop the interlopers!" Vlad commanded.

A tall ghost in full armor and a glowing green sword entered the visible spectrum.

"The Fright Knight?! Don't let the sword touch you!" Jazz called out.

"Wasn't planning on it." Kim really wished she had her old super suit. Jazz and Kim were forced back away. The Fright Knight didn't advance, but he wasn't about to let them through. They needed a plan.

Jazz lifted her shirt over her specter-deflector and unbuckled it.

"Put this on. It will let you fight Vlad. I'll take care of the Fright Knight. Go when I say." Jazz pulled her blaster back out. "They aren't taking anyone else from me."

Kim had no choice but to believe in Jazz's plan and buckle up, but something about this encounter wasn't lining up and Kim didn't like it.

"Go!" Jazz laid covering fire and Kim was out of time to think. She ran and flipped over the couch and then the coffee table to rush around the Fright Knight.

"Can't even stop two redheads. Useless! We're taking this outside." Vlad dropped his shield and split into three duplicates that weaved through Dani's barrage before blasting back. Dani tried her best but was blasted back, she phased through the wall to avoid slamming into it and Vlad followed after.

Kim jumped up the stairs and kicked out the first window she saw before taking a few steps back to get a running start. Kim Lept from the second floor, twisted around mid air and fired a grapple to the roof. The grapple caught her momentum and turned it into a swinging arc around the building.

* * *

The Fright Knight dodged and deflected Jazz's shot with casual swings of his sword.

"Fool! Your brother isn't here to look after you. Be a good damsel and wait for the hero to appear."

"You mean like you? Always waiting for stronger, smarter ghost to tell you want to do, you directionless beta male. Do you actually like being a lap dog, or are you just too dumb to make your own decisions?"

"You dare?!" The Fright Knight swung his sword wildly cleaving through walls and a lamp post as he flew at Jazz. She fired a few more shots at him, but it was quickly evident he no longer cared about what little harm they could do to him and she dropped the blaster.

Jazz jumped over the couch right before it was cleaved in two and slid across the coffee table. The raging ghost raised his sword high once more and brought it down like he had a hammer rather than a sword. Jazz spun around and caught the sword in a plastic pumpkin.

"What?! No!" The Fright Knight yelled and pulled on his sword but the pumpkin dragged it to the ground and he couldn't budge it no matter how he yelled and thrashed.

"When Danny told me it didn't have to be a real pumpkin, I stashed a few plastic ones around the house in a few strategic places. Our rooms, the lab, under the coffee table. Dad didn't mind as long as I filled them with candy." Jazz walked around the screaming knight to retrieve her blaster. " Oh, and for the record? Danny doesn't take care of me. Danny's my _little_ brother. _I_ take care of _him_."

* * *

Vlad weaved effortlessly through Dani's ecto blasts in the air.

"You can't possibly defeat me on your own, child. Just give me what I want, or I'll take it."

Kim swung into a fully horizontal drop kick to Vlad's side. There was a flash of light when she made contact and he tumbled out of the air and into a barrage of green energy where he landed until his was totally obscured from the dirt and dust kicked up from the attacks. Kim, of course, stuck the landing.

"Are you okay?" Kim called out to Dani.

"It's not over yet. Vlad's pretty tough for a guy his age." Dani was breathing heavily.

Four Vlads phased up from the ground around Dani and swarmed her suddenly. Just as suddenly, four shots rang out and the only real Vlad was laid out on the floor while his duplicates popped out of existence. Jack, Maddie, Sam and Tucker had blasters drawn on him and Jazz rounded the corner to join them.

"Oh, ginger snaps," Vlad cursed as he assessed his situation and turned invisible as ecto blasts peppered the space he'd been in.

Kim's attention wasn't on them anymore though. It was on the Fenton thermos that bounced and rolled toward her after the clones disappeared. Everything that felt wrong and didn't fit together suddenly clicked. Kim stopped the motion of the thermos with her foot.

Dani saw the thermos and ran up to her with a relieved smile.

"Thanks for the save," she said, going to one knee and reaching. Kim didn't move.

"I, uh, can't pick it up while your foot is on it. Specter deflector and all that," said Dani.

"Dani, why did Vlad want this thermos?" Kim asked. The color drained from Dani's face. Jazz seemed to sense the distress and started walking over.

"I caught a dangerous ghost. He must have wanted it," Dani offered.

It was a pretty normal answer and it didn't fit with the ferociously not normal things that have been happening. Kim hoped Jazz would forgive her for this.

"Is Danny the ghost you caught?"

"No! I-I didn't. You don't understand!" Dani tried to explain, but Jazz heard the question and knew what Dani's answer really meant.

"Dani? Why?" Jazz's voice had no strength. She was numb.

"I didn't have a choice you don't understand." Tears filled Dani's eyes.

Jazz bent down and snatched up the thermos. She moved to open it when...

"No!" Dani jumped for the thermos and Jazz turned her body to protect it, but was bowled over onto the ground. The thermos flew out of her hand and into an invisible one.

Vlad held the thermos triumphant.

"You don't understand! He made me promise!" Dani screamed.

Vlad was never one to listen to the worries of insects though. He held the thermos above his head and pressed the release.

"This madness ends now!" He declared.

* * *

"Sorry. Duty calls, but Tucker has your number. We'll talk more. Promise!"

He'd sensed a pretty strong ghost, but that meant he had a good idea of the direction it wouldn't be long.

"Hey, big bro. You promised to take me with you after the meeting and I don't see any redheads." Dani flew up to him with the biggest smile.

"So you're the ghost I sensed. Well, alright. Let's begin ghost hero training 101. First, remember to bring your own thermos," said Danny gesturing to where a thermos should have hung on his sister's hip.

"Can't I use yours?" Dani pouted.

"The most important thing for a ghost hero is to have the basic tools of the trade. We'll just stop by the house and get your thermos."

"Fine. Race ya!"

* * *

"I'll be right back," Dani promised as switched to her human form and ran inside.

Danny was watching the night sky as he waited and his ghost sense went off.

"Welcome back," he said turning around.

"Thanks," said a deep and sinister voice and fire erupted all around the FentonWorks sign. "In return for the warm welcome, I think I'll destroy everything you love."

Danny struggled and blasted, froze and flew all to the best of his ability. The monster was just too strong. It brute forced through everything Danny had and found time to destroy more of his home with each passing moment. It didn't noticed Dani return with her thermos though.

"Do it!" Danny yelled as he grappled his attacker in place. Dani heard his signal and activated her thermos. The familiar swirl of light poured forth and pulled on the monster as it stretched forward and grabbed onto Danny.

"No! Not again!" the ghost yelled.

Danny had only seconds left before they were both pulled inside. He felt his body becoming gaseous and weak.

"Dani, never let us out! He'll kill our family! Promise me!"

* * *

Two spiraling masses of energy shot into the sky. They steamed and crackled; flashed and banged. High in the sky the energy split apart like two negative poles repulsing and there they were. Matching emblems and angry looks.

"That was a neat trick. Using a human girl to capture us both, too bad it didn't last," mocked the ultimate enemy.

"For my next trick, I'll make you disappear!" Danny lit his fists with energy.

* * *

 **Author's note** : Does anyone want to beta these? Just someone to read over them before I post would be nice. I feel like I find stuff all of the time to change at the last second.


	6. Ultimate

The monster had a smile that was smug and all teeth at the same time. It ran its eyes across the surrounding until he saw some familiar faces.

"I just remembered," it said like it had a fun idea. "I promised to do something for you before we were so rudely interrupted." His smile was big, menacing and all teeth. Danny's eyes followed his gaze to see his friends and family all gathered in one place. Also Vlad.

The monster shot off like a fanged rocket with Danny hot on his tail. The demon rocket split in three and Danny tried the same, but as he split one of the rockets span around and crashed Danny's three heads back together with a spinning backhand.

The remaining ghost missiles weaved and slithered around a hail of ecto blasts everything Danny loved opened fire. Kim prepared to move, muscles coiled to spring if one of those things got too close. She still had the specter deflector and it seemed pretty effective before.

The two monsters were engulfed in flames suddenly and Kim optimistically hoped they'd been hit. The two burning monsters moved into a spin that sent streaks of fire in all directions like a menacing sparkler.

"No!" Danny's eyes turned icy blue and cold energy filled his hands.

"Oh no you don't." The demon fighting Danny blasted him with green fire from its mouth destroying the cold that was summoned. "You get to watch."

Dani and Vlad flew up in unison. She glared at him and his smiled condescendingly back. They both raised their hands and linked two panes of energy to put a barrier over everyone. The fire above and the shield crackled and entire block was ignited.

"I tried to warn you." Dani said through a grimace as she held her half of the shield.

"Focusing on the matter at hand, if I were a monster bent on destroying Daniel's happiness-"

"Seriously?" Dani deadpanned.

"-I would be quite thrilled that Daniel was forced to fight me near his family, so let's fix that, shall we?"

Everyone scowled at him, but Jack made the call. "Vladdy's right. As soon as we get a chance, everyone run for the Fenton RV. We're no good to Danny locked down like this."

"What's this?" It commented as it weaved through Danny's punches. "You got a new sidekick and the cheesehead on your side? I think I'll kill one of them."

The rain of fire stopped and the doubles made a show of punching through the barriers and rushing around Dani and Vlad.

The difference in strength and speed weren't as big as they had been last time. Danny was even getting used to the boneless way it slithered around his attacks. Danny could see it. He could win.

Danny swung his leg out in a slicing kick. The creature dodged it by stretching its middle backward.

"You won't distract me again." A blast of ice from his eyes met with heat rays from his counterpart. "Duplicates are weaker, they can't win against-" a sudden uppercut to his opponent's jaw popped it out of existence. "No!"

Time slowed down. Danny looked down and saw his family running for cover, thank goodness for that small mercy. In the air between him and the others, Dani and Vlad were locked in combat against a clone and a genuine killer, but which was which?

Danny was already flying down and creating a duplicate of his own. The fiends had separated Vlad and Dani so he had to split up.

Dani and Danny met up and combined their ecto rays and eye blast caged one of the monster's movements until it was turned to smoke by the array of energy blasts.

Danny felt his clone pop and swung around in formation with Dani toward Vlad.

Vlad had made a quartet of himself to try and confuse his attacker, but the ghost tore through all of them and caught Vlad with a coil of electricity.

"Aargh!" He black rings split from Vlad's waist and ended his transformation. "Butter nuts..."

The ultimate enemy plucked the now human Vlad out of the air with a hand around his throat.

"You could have saved them both, if you had the guts to leave the girl with your duplicate," he chastised with mock disappointment. You decided his life wasn't worth it and who am I to argue?"

Vlad's human hands struggled against the hand around his throat. "I don't suppose we could work out some sort of-"

The rest turned into a gargle with a squeeze.

"Deal? No. You're an example I have to make."

"What do we do?" Dani looked to her brother.

"Vlad's good at getting himself out of trouble, if we give him a chance." Vlad always had something up his sleeve, right? "We need to distract-"

HONK. The Fenton family assault vehicle drifted around a corner and into a lamp post. Horn blaring and weapons blasting energy and ecto goo through the air. Jazz popped the hatch and was pulling up a bazooka as the machine charged forward. Kim was hanging off the side with her grappling hook in her hand and a thermos on her belt.

While his assailant was distracted Vlad called back a duplicate he had managed to hide in the confusion of the brawl. The power returning reconnected him to his shorted powers and two black rings burst forth and sent him attacker spinning away.

"Now!" Danny called out.

Three half ghosts, a turret and a bazooka covered the ghost in small explosions of ecto energy. It didn't fall so they kept firing. All Danny could see was the smoke and the explosions now. One by one they eventually held their fire, unsure if their target was still there, or if they'd done anything to it at all.

When the smoke started to clear, Vlad sucker punched Danny and sent him flying. It was strangely nostalgic, but infuriating for a moment. Then the wailing began.

Vlad's surprise attack had pushed Danny out of the attack, but only him.

"No…" Danny was outside of the area of the attack, but no one else was. Images of condiment explosions flashed through his mind.

Vlad and Dani were swatted out of the air and sent spiraling toward the ground. Kim felt like she was body slammed by a pool of loud water. Even with the specter deflector she was blown off the assault vehicle and sent tumbling.

Fenton assault vehicle wasn't faring any better.

"Guns are offline! Shields down!" Maddie relayed.

Jack threw it in reverse, but the vehicle just shuddered around them.

"Treads are out! Get down!" Jack wondered allowed as he pulled his wife and daughter into his arms and curled his massive form over them. The console began to smoke and the metal around them groaned. The reinforced windshield burst over his back in a hail of glass shards.

"No!" Danny's eyes flashed green then blue.

Dani had been behind Danny with her hands over her ears the last time she saw him use his ghostly wail. At the time it had been terrifying.

Being hit by it was so much worse. She felt the pulses of sound run through her body. It ripped the strength from her body and crushed her to the ground. The power that welled up from inside her was slipping away. Then she was human. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think. Just feel pain and fear.

Then it stopped. She'd have thought she'd died if she didn't know it hurt dead people about as bad. There was a persistent ringing in her ears and she was dizzy now. Maybe she was before and didn't notice because everything her entire reality had been roiling at the time.

A hand on her shoulder called her from the haze.

"Can you stand?" Kim asked.

"Huh?" Maybe not all they way from the haze.

"Can you stand?" Kim's voice was clear and powerful through the ringing. Not loud, just strong.

"I-I think so." Dani lifted herself. She stumbled once, but Kim caught her. It was getting easier to hear and the sound of glass breaking caught her attention.

The sword was the Fenton family assault vehicle. At some point in the chaos the vehicle had flipped on its side. Jack was kicking out the last of the glass in the windshield so his family could could walk through it safely. As they hobbled out, everyone seemed to have lost years of life. Everyone was weak, hurt and drained.

Kim's hearing was back first and she heard it high above them, a rumble like thunder.

She looked up, everyone else followed her gaze.

They were fighting, but it wasn't like before. There was no spectral dogfight, no ecto blasts of any kind. Jump power against power. Fists crashing into each other and Danny was holding his own. The gap between them had shrunk and not because the beast was tired. Danny was getting stronger.

"We have to help him." Most of them said it and the rest were thinking it. Danny couldn't win this brutal exchange.

"Our weapons and shields are shot from that last attack." Maddie rattled off the obstacles. "Even if they weren't, normal weapons don't do much to that thing."

"I'm really wishing I brought more than a grappling hook," Kim offered in agreement.

Jazz crossed her arms and analyzed the situation as best she could. "We don't need to beat him. If we just help Danny beat him."

Jack's head popped up like toast. "I've got it!

Danny felt a surge of power, but he was spending it as fast as it grew and he didn't know how long it could last. He couldn't hold back, couldn't let up. It was kill or be killed. This monster or his family. He crashed into him over and over.

"That's it! Hate me! Kill me!" it taunted him. " _Become_ me."

"I'm nothing like you!" Danny pushed his anger through his fist.

"No, but you're learning," it sneered even as its face deformed from impact. "You wasted so much time trying to protect the innocent butterflies, but now you're squashing spiders and look how strong it makes you!"

"Is that what you think you did?! You killed all the butterflies to get the spiders?!" Danny screamed, tears welling in the corners of his eyes. He swung again, but his strength finally faltered.

"You'll learn that too." It caught his fist. "They're _all_ spiders."

Danny didn't have the strength to pull free. He grit his teeth and waited for the hammer. His enemy cocked back its free fist, promising pain. However instead of thrusting forward the arm jerked back and Danny's hand was released in surprise as the ghost he was fighting was pulled backward even as it tried to phase through whatever was pulling him.

But that didn't release him because Kim's grappling hook had the unbreakable Fenton Fisher line tied around it. The line had been threaded through the Fenton assault vehicle like a pulley and Jack, Maddie, Jazz, Sam, Tucker, Kim, Dani and even Vlad were all there pulling.

It took Danny less than a second to recognize what was happening and it filled him with something very different from anger.

"Alright, spidey. Here comes the boot!" Danny used every inch grant by the surprise attack to accelerate over a hundred miles an hour and kicked his feet into the ghosts face as hard as he could.

Dark Danny had been pulling against the feed making him rigid in space. The kick cracked like like lightning and with a scream it crashed into the turned over vehicle and slit it in half while kicking up a cloud of debris.

"Grawgh!" with a yell it slammed its fists and the assault vehicle burst apart. Its eyes locked onto Danny's. The ever present rage there gave way to surprise as it was sucked into the Fenton thermos.

It was silent, like no one could believe it had worked. Silent until...

"YEAH! Fenton!" Jack screamed and opened the floodgates. Everyone started cheering and yelling. Well, not Vlad. He just looked relieved.

Danny flew down and was smothered in hugs, kisses and cheers. Kim smiled and remembered similar celebrations back home.

Then the thermos shook.

"Uh, is this normal?" Kim called out.

Vlad was the first to recover from the good mood. "That's impossible!"

Thermos kicked in Kim's hand. Maddie rushed over and waited with her hand on it. It jumped in the air and she scrambled to catch it.

"The impact is getting stronger. How can any ghost be so powerful?" Maddie's voice was filled with dread. "The thermos isn't built for this. The containment will fail if this continues."

"So what, it stayed in there before out of politeness?" Dani covered her dread with sarcasm.

"No, when we were both in there, I stopped him." Danny grabbed the thermos as it kicked again warping the metal. "I've got it from here, guys. I need you all to clear out and give me room to do my thing."

"Danny, do you seriously think you can beat that thing?" was what they wanted to say. No one had it in them to ask though. They were too afraid he was acting strong for them. It was Kim who broke the silence.

"Figured it out?" she asked. The others didn't know what she meant and honestly neither did she. She just knew that look in his eyes, like a cloud has parted and he sees the truth. Kim had felt it that day at junior prom when Drakken had broken her spirit until Ron woke something in her. She had never felt stronger.

"Yeah." Danny was looking at his feet when he started talking, but he looked her in the eye and said, "He doesn't stand a chance."

Jack was the first to sense his sincerity. "Of course not! He's just a ghost. Danno is a Fenton!"

The hug pile reconvened on Danny.

They heard another impact from inside the thermos and they said their not goodbyes. None of them dared to believe it was goodbye.

"You grew up too fast, baby boy." His mother kissed his forehead.

His sisters squeezed him from either side.

"I'm so proud of you but be careful, little brother."

"You still have take me ghost hunting, you promised!"

"Is it weird this makes me want a Nasty burger?" Tucker fist bumped Danny as the crowd dispersed.

"There's still more to do, Daniel," Vlad reminded him from a safe distance.

Sam just kissed him and held his hands as they smiled at each other. Kim had a clever line prepared, but there's no way she was following that. She had to get everyone out of here anyway. There would be time to talk later.

When the thermos finally failed Danny was alone.

"Ah! I hope you enjoyed the little break," it mocked sincerity.

"Actually, yeah." Danny smiled. He knew his opponent liked to talk and get in his head, but Danny could talk too. "There were hugs and kisses."

"That's over now," it promised.

"You don't remember it, do you? Being happy."

"All happiness leads to is pain and weakness."

"And anger makes us strong, right?" Danny said through a mocking smile.

"You seriously think you can win? I'd say you'd lost your mind, if I didn't already know what that looks like." It crossed it's arms and puffed up its chest.

"The strongest ghosts were always so full of hate, like they existed just to hurt people."

It smiled at the mention of hatred. "So you finally underst-"

"And I beat every one of those ghosts! I saved my friends and they saved me. I'm not bigger, smarter, or angrier but I am _more_ than that and I am more than you!"

It cackled, loudly and derisively. "I'm enough to burn the world. What more is there?"

"Enough to protect it."

"Let's go ahead and test that." It planted its feet and took a deep breath. Danny's eyes flashed blue and blast of cold covered his opponent's mouth.

"Even you can't zip around dodging while using the Ghostly Wail. I'll freeze it every time!" Spears of ice flew from Danny's hands.

Green fire erupted from the ground around the ultimate enemy and poured out its mouth through the ice that covered it and blasting the spears back to nothing. Danny took to the sky as the street filled with fire.

"I burned the world before I got that power! I don't need it for this!" It yelled and erupted into the sky on a pillar of green fire. Danny braced himself, but the ultimate enemy just cackled as he crashed into him.

Danny was carried away, but he was being pushed around back and then down. Danny grit his teeth and closed his eyes as he crashed through three floors of a building and cracked the floor of a basement.

When he opened his eye he saw a snarling face with burning white hair and a building completely engulfed in flame.

"I am everything about you that is strong and more!" it growled.

"Also ugly." Danny's eyes flash blue and rays of frost covered the snarling face above him. The hot glow of fire shone through the ice where its mouth was just like last time, but Danny was already moving. He phased his shoulder into the floor and brought it back forward with a right hook knocking its face aside. Fire exploded through the wall instead of Danny's face and loosened the grip on his other shoulder.

Danny coiled his knees up to his chest as he pushed the ghost off him and kicked it through the ground floor and three ceilings. It regained control in the air and pulled the fire from the ground into streams of fire that converged in front of it in smoldering mound that consumed the building they fought in.

A blue ray flashed out through the fire and Danny flew through the path it left into his evil doppleganger. They grappled fists crashed into each other fire and ice flashed all around, but this time it was Danny who was pushing people through buildings.

* * *

The city was evacuated for miles around, but everyone outside the disaster zone was a spectator. High in the sky streaks of green through colored the cloudy, thunder cracked when they struck. Fire bloomed in sky into a great ball of green flame. A streak of blue split it in two and it fell in halves upon the empty buildings and streets below. Green light from the otherworldly flame turns the clouds green and smoke starts to rise.

Many panicked and continued to flee, but those who knew better stayed. Those who know about Danny, about ghosts and about the power involved in such a display all knew there was nowhere to run. Danny had to win and that was it.

The lights in the sky crashed into each other. Fire streamed from where they met erratically around and across the sky cutting through the clouds. Everyone watching imagined the struggle they were mired in, tumbling around in the air.

The stream of fire bloomed into a fan of flames that span around in the struggle and make a green spiral of fire moving erratically across the sky. It would have been beautiful, if it wasn't the fires of an impending extinction.

As they hoped against despair there was a glimmer. A sparkling blue light alongside the fire in a spiral creating a sparkling trail. It grew and grew along with the hope in their chests. The spiral suddenly fell to the ground.

There was a great blue flash and the green glow of flame was washed away.

* * *

Danny stood above the crater where he'd tested the limits of his power. Everything was covered with ice. There was a raised point in the center, like someone had dropped something massive in the ocean and instantly froze it while the displaced water was trying to pull back into the center.

In the center was his foe restrained in the ice.

"How?! How are you so strong?!" The smug grin was long gone, replaced with panic and outrage.

"You aren't my strength! You're my weakness. My rage, my fear, my selfishness and everything else that I had to overcome to be who I am. To be a hero!" Danny raised a fist in victory. "You are nothing."

"You're nothing! I am all there is! YOU INSECT!"

It screamed a scream of outrage and pain all pretense of calm or superiority melted away to desperate rage. It's body ignited in white hot flame as it shambled out of the ice. It swung a fist wildly at Danny, who parried it with one hand and planted his other fist into his opponent's face, crashing it back into the ice.

It scream again lashed out over and over. Danny crashed it into the ice every time.

"No! No! I burned the world! I am power! I am everything!" It swung another fist and Danny put a hand out the catch it, but it turned into smoke. The once raging flames were now flickering like candles. It fell to its knees and smoke poured off its body.

Danny walked over to the writhing snarling mess.

"You are nothing." Danny took a firm stance and took a deep breath and blew the fire out.

The sun shone through the clouds and his nightmares became smoke lost on the wind.


End file.
